Chapman, whose dad used to have a mustache, says some older men really appreciate the calendar — though Phipps admitted that his mom "refuses to take me seriously with a mustache."

But the girls on campus, they love it. Phipps overheard an exchange the other day, two friends saying they wanted to buy a calendar, and their male (un-mustached) friend dismissing it as silly. Chapman doesn't bother with the naysayers.

"There are some people who don't get it," he says. "I feel bad for them."

Building a better world, by design What if architects across America agreed to make every building they design 50 percent more energy-efficient — and keep improving until, by 2030, they're at carbon-neutral?

At RISD: Art, science, and what's wrong with ATMs Among the most prominent solutions offered up for our present economic malaise and the broader decline of the republic: a robust investment in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education.

Review: The eye-popping vitality of 'Printed in Providence' Providence printmaking continues to be the primary representative of the city's art in books from Street World (2007) to Paper Politics: Socially Engaged Printmaking Today (2009) to the Museum of Modern Art's Modern Women (2010). It's a printmaking of posters and zines, do-it-yourself art often operating underground, on the streets, outside the usual institutions.

Tips for young artists This region of the country is, and always has been, a magnet for artists. If I spent some time thinking about why this is the case, I could probably conjure up a few convincing theories. But that's not my purpose today.

Britannia rules at RISD’s “Made In the UK” "Made In the UK: Contemporary Art from the Richard Brown Baker Collection," a survey of post-World War II British art at the RISD Museum (224 Benefit Street, Providence, through January 8), arrives as British artists are the top of the pops.

Bandwagon fans gear up Only after buying a "Beat L.A." T-shirt, methodically checking ESPN for World Cup updates, and watching every installment of the NBA Finals with a religious fanaticism, has the hard truth settled in: I am a bandwagon fan.

SAVOR THESE URBAN (AND SUBURBAN) OASES | September 27, 2011 It's not a huge state, but Rhode Island, you may be realizing, is abuzz with activity. There's music, poetry, theater, gallery shows, social gatherings, and all sorts of events at the colleges.

REWRITING THE HISTORY OF CAPITALISM | March 30, 2011 Brown University president Ruth Simmons has made it hard to ignore the school's ties to slavery — and by extension, the ties of well-known Providence families.

GREENING THE KNOWLEDGE DISTRICT | March 09, 2011 Christopher Bull is on the engineering faculty at Brown University, but what he teaches is a vision. “We all bear some responsibility in the direction the world goes,” he says, “and we need to accept that responsibility and act on it.”

CATAPULTER WANTS YOU TO TRAVEL SMARTER | February 23, 2011 You’re headed to New York and you need to keep the trip as cheap as possible, but also want WiFi, so you can work. Or perhaps you’re due in Boston’s Back Bay area, ASAP, and you need the ride to be quick and direct, even if it costs a little extra.

AT RISD: 2X4S, TAPE, AND 'CO-HABITATION' | February 09, 2011 In photographs, it looks like a giant spider web. But up close, it's shiny and transparent under the golden light. It's big enough for a person to climb into and crawl through — or you can poke your head in from a hole underneath or on the sides.